Service Desk Team Lead

National Physical Laboratory; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

National Physical Laboratory is seeking an experienced Service Desk Team Lead to shape and improve IT services across the organisation. You will lead a small team, act as senior escalation point and drive continuous service improvement for UKTL colleagues and stakeholders.

You will balance hands-on technical support with people leadership, managing incidents and service requests, while mentoring two technicians and coordinating with suppliers to ensure high-quality service delivery.

Qualifications

• Proven 1st/2nd line IT support experience in a service desk or IT support environment.
• Experience leading, mentoring or supervising others and driving team performance.
• Strong troubleshooting across hardware, software, networking and end-user devices.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and support a small Service Desk team, fostering a high-performing culture.
• Provide day-to-day supervision, mentoring and development conversations.
• Undertake line management duties including performance reviews and wellbeing support.
• Act as technical escalation point for complex incidents and requests.
• Manage and monitor service queues, prioritise tickets and meet SLAs.
• Drive continuous service improvement and ITIL-aligned processes.
• Collaborate with internal teams and third-party suppliers to resolve issues.
• Develop and maintain knowledgebase articles and user guides.
• Deliver training and knowledge sharing sessions for users and colleagues.
• Support Audio Visual tech and meeting room services for events.

Skills

1st/2nd line support

Team leadership

Customer service

ITIL

Communication

Escalation management

Tools

ITSM tools

Ticketing systems

Job description

About the Role

Ready to take the next step in your IT support career?

We're looking for an experienced Service Desk Team Lead to play a key role in shaping and improving IT services across the organisation. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone with strong 1st and 2nd line support experience who is ready to combine their technical expertise with leadership responsibilities. You'll lead a small team of Service Desk Technicians, act as a senior escalation point, and drive continuous service improvement initiatives that enhance the experience of UKTL colleagues and stakeholders. If you're passionate about delivering exceptional customer service, developing people, and improving IT operations, we'd love to hear from you.

What you'll be doing

As Service Desk Team Lead, you'll balance hands-on technical support with people leadership and service improvement responsibilities.

You will:

• Lead, coach and support a team of two Service Desk Technicians, creating a positive and high-performing team culture.
• Provide day-to-day supervision, guidance and mentoring to team members, helping them develop their technical capabilities and customer service skills.
• Undertake line management responsibilities, including performance management, development conversations, objective setting and wellbeing support.
• Act as a technical escalation point, providing expert 1st and 2nd line support for hardware, software, networking and user issues.
• Take ownership of complex incidents and service requests, ensuring timely resolution and effective communication throughout.
• Manage and monitor Service Desk queues, ensuring tickets are prioritised appropriately and service levels are achieved.
• Drive continuous improvement across the Service Desk, identifying opportunities to enhance processes, increase efficiency and improve the user experience.
• Use Service Management tools to manage incidents, requests, assets and change activities in line with ITIL best practice.
• Collaborate with internal teams and third-party suppliers to resolve technical issues and improve service delivery.
• Maintain and develop knowledgebase articles, user guides and support documentation.
• Deliver training, guidance and knowledge sharing sessions for end users and Service Desk colleagues.
• Support Audio Visual technologies and meeting room services for internal and external events.
• Ensure asset and configuration records are maintained accurately.
• Champion excellent customer service and act as an ambassador for IT across UKTL.

Successful Applicants must be able to commute to the UKTL offices in Birmingham at least twice a week.

We strive to offer a great work life balance - if you are looking for full time, part time or flexible options, we will try to make this work where business possible. This will be dependent on the kind of role you do and part of the business you work in.

About You

We're interested in candidates who can demonstrate:

• Proven experience delivering 1st and 2nd line IT support in a Service Desk or IT Support environment.
• Experience leading, mentoring or supervising others, with the confidence to support team development and performance.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across hardware, software, Microsoft technologies and end-user devices.
• A customer-first approach and a passion for delivering an excellent support experience.
• Experience working with Service Management tools and ticketing systems.
• Knowledge of ITIL principles and service management best practices.
• The ability to prioritise workloads, manage competing demands and remain calm under pressure.
• Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A proactive mindset with a genuine desire to improve services and drive positive change.

Why join UKTL?

This role offers the opportunity to make a genuine impact. You'll not only lead a small team and solve technical challenges, but you'll also help shape the future of IT service delivery at UKTL. Your ideas, experience and leadership will directly contribute to improving services, enhancing user satisfaction and supporting UKTL's wider mission.

If you're an experienced Service Desk professional looking for a leadership role where you can combine technical expertise, people management and service improvement, we'd love to hear from you.

We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our work in this specific area means that nationality, residency and security requirements are more tightly defined than others. To work in this role, you will need to hold an SC clearance with no restrictions. You are welcome to apply without already holding SC clearance; however, you will not be able to start in post until the clearance has been successfully granted.

About Us

UKTL is building leading edge Telecoms testing facilities to keep our telecommunications networks safe, accelerate the roll-out of new technologies, and grow our world leading telecoms sector to maintain resiliency and security.

Read more about UKTL here!

Successful candidates will join a state-of-the-art facility and be supporting the team conducting testing and research on the latest technologies and innovations in the industry. You will work alongside our infrastructure and Cybersecurity professionals to ensure that the UK's world class Telecoms infrastructure grows in a resilient and secure manner underpinning growth in other industry sectors.

As a trusted and independent national capability, UKTL interacts with standards bodies, Academia, and Government Departments as well as Communications Service Providers and equipment vendors.

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that provides cutting-edge measurement science, engineering and technology to underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK. Find out more about what it is like working here - The measure of us - Overview

NPL and DSIT have strong commitments to diversity and equality of opportunity, and welcome applications from candidates irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or age, providing they meet the required criteria. Applications from women, disabled and black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates in particular are encouraged. All disabled candidates (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) who satisfy the minimum criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme.

At NPL, we believe our success is a result of the diversity and talent of our people. We strive to nurture and respect individuals to ensure everyone feels valued by treating everyone on the basis of their own individual merits and abilities regardless of their own or perceived identity, as part of our commitment to diversity & inclusion, we ensure we’re creating an environment where all our colleagues feel supported and welcome. More about this on our Diversity & Inclusion page.

We offer a wealth of above industry standard benefits, such as enhanced pension scheme, flexible working, and more that can be found here rewards, benefits and recognition. Our values are at the heart of what we do, and they shape the way we interact, develop our people and celebrate success. To ensure everyone has an equal chance, we’re always willing

• enhanced pension scheme
• flexible working